Saint Elmo Spiller Bolin From left: Saint Elmo developers Matthew Spiller and Brandon Bolin stand inside the warehouse that will become the public market for the 12-acre mixed-use development that is food- and music-centric.[/caption]

In 2018, Southwest Austin is slated to be home to a 12-acre, mixed-use development with office, hotel, residential and entertainment space as well as a relocated Saxon Pub and a 40,000 square-foot indoor-outdoor public market.

A news conference and tour for media took place Sept. 22 at the future site of Saint Elmo, a $120 million development by GroundFloor Development and Prescott Group. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2016 and finish by the first quarter of 2018.

The project will occupy a warehouse on 113 Industrial Blvd. that formerly housed school buses and is currently the location of Office Furniture Now.

About 225,000 square feet of the 12 acre property will be office space. Brandon Bolin, president and CEO of GroundFloor Development, said the office space will have natural light, tall ceilings, exposed ductwork and concrete floors.

“It’s going to feel like an old warehouse building that you might see in New York, San Francisco or Chicago,” Bolin said.

As for the tenants, Bolin said they are looking to attract creative companies to the office space, such as those that working in the technology, video game, software and music industries, adding that developers are aiming to create a “creative cluster” at Saint Elmo.

“Creatives are what Austin is about,” Bolin said.

Matthew Roy Spillers, managing partner of Saint Elmo Public Market, said the market may be full of Austin businesses that make what they sell, citing breweries, bakeries, flower shops and boot makers as examples. Spillers referenced Pike Place Market in Seattle and Mercado San Miguel in Madrid, Spain as inspiration for the Saint Elmo Public Market.

“[Public markets] are starting to have a resurgence in this part of the U.S.,” Spillers said. “And Austin not having a public market is a great opportunity to house [Saint Elmo] in South Austin.”